


i'm a tourist making stops (i'll never leave without you)

by Talls



Category: All For the Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Andrew is patient and in love, County Fairs, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Neil Is an Idiot, Self-Indulgent, so much fluff it rotted my teeth and gave my cousin cavities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-28 22:47:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7659877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talls/pseuds/Talls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Andrew is unreasonably on top of this, and should have expected Neil to not be any good at relationships. </p><p>Or, in which Andrew proposes, and Neil confronts the reality that is his life. </p><p>(ft. Kevin as a perceptive asshole who Neil couldn't live without)</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'm a tourist making stops (i'll never leave without you)

**Author's Note:**

> This is the most self indulgent thing I have ever written in my life. Thank you for humoring me. 
> 
> Title comes from Yuna's Tourist, a super great song you should listen to 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!

The thing was, it hadn’t been a normal date night. Date nights were every other Thursday, and they were usually stupid coupley things that neither of them had ever planned on being able to do. Neil had taken Andrew to a salsa dance class for their most recent night out, and Andrew had stepped on Neil’s toes what felt like a billion times before Neil realized he was doing it on purpose. The time before that, Andrew had tracked down a Häagen-Dazs restaurant, and they had fed each other bites of their sundaes, Neil smiling like an idiot, and Andrew carefully stoic except for the softening of his eyes. 

But this had been different, and Neil should have noticed it from the outset, and prepared accordingly. Maybe that way, he wouldn't have screwed everything up so monumentally. 

It was Saturday, and both of them had managed to get out of any possible social entanglements. The day was entirely theirs, and Neil had planned on spending it in bed. Neil didn’t know it, but Andrew had other ideas. 

They had woken up lazily, wrapped around each other, the warm sunlight filtering through the curtains and painting their bodies in shades of buttery yellow. Neil had Andrew slowly, bodies languid and sleep-warm. He buried his face in Andrew’s neck and thanked every single one of his lucky stars that he got to have this. Andrew pushed his hands through Neil’s hair, ran them along his sides and up his back in something that felt like veneration. When they collapsed next to each other, sweaty, spent, and deliriously happy, Andrew stayed close, cleaning them both off with the towel on the nightstand before curling into Neil’s side. 

They stayed in bed, Andrew’s head resting on Neil’s chest, hands and legs tangled together, until the cats made their complaints known. Neil got up to take care of their various and sundry needs, while Andrew made cheesy omelettes and bacon for both of them. They ate in the kitchen, Andrew sitting on the counter, and Neil leaning next to him. Neil fed him pieces of his bacon, and Andrew licked the grease off of Neil’s fingers. It was disgustingly domestic and everything Neil wanted. 

When they both finished, and cleared their plates, Neil had expected Andrew to drag him back to bed, but Andrew pulled away. 

“Come on, let’s get dressed,” Andrew said, gesturing for Neil to follow him into the bedroom. When Neil followed him in, Andrew was already pulling things from their shared drawer. 

“What for?” Neil asked. Andrew turned and threw and outfit at Neil. 

“We’re going out,” Andrew said, before pulling some clothes out for himself. 

“Out where?” Neil asked, bewilderment obvious on his face. 

“It’s a surprise,” Andrew said before clamming up entirely on the subject. 

The clothes weren't anything special, just jeans and a form-fitting t-shirt. Neil tried to figure out where he was going based on the limited evidence he had, but eventually gave up and decided to trust Andrew’s taste. After an hour long drive, he was not expecting Andrew to pull into the parking lot of a local county fair. Neil turned to Andrew with a look of unholy glee on his face. Andrew looked quietly despairing, but in a surprisingly fond way. 

They walked through the fair hand in hand. Neil had a plan to go to every single attraction that didn’t involve ‘death-defying drops’, and Andrew was content to join him, munching happily on a caramel apple. Andrew won a prize at the strongman’s challenge, and gave a little girl the stuffed monkey. Neil grinned at him until Andrew blushed. 

“I had no use for a stuffed monkey, it would be a nuisance to carry around for the rest of the day, and she had been trying before me. Stop looking at me like that.” Neil continued to smile at him until Andrew shoved the remains of his apple into Neil’s mouth. 

They sat on one of the picnic tables, splitting a gigantic funnel cake, liberally doused with powdered sugar and chocolate sauce. Neil deliberately made enough of a mess of his face that Andrew was forced to kiss it all off him. Neil won Andrew three prizes at the shooting booths. Andrew gave the two biggest ones away to other little kids, but kept the smallest one, a fox around the size of King Fluffkins. Andrew didn’t make eye contact with Neil for a while after that, probably for the best. Eventually, the booth worker not so gently suggested that Neil go somewhere else. 

They tooled around the fair, taking stupid pictures and pissing off booth workers until sunset, at which point Neil went to the huge Ferris wheel, and looked at Andrew with the biggest puppy dog eyes he could summon. Andrew, resigned to his fate, stood beside him in line. 

The ride up was slow, and Neil distracted Andrew with kisses and murmured words. When they got near the top, Andrew gripped Neil’s hand so tight his bones creaked and his knuckles went white. The Ferris wheel faced the west, and the top had a perfect view of the setting sun. The sight was breathtaking, the sky lit up in thousands of shades of pinks and golds and blues. 

Neil glanced at Andrew to see his reaction, and felt doubly winded. Andrew’s hair caught all of the golds, and the pinks dusted the tops of his cheekbones. The rays of light painted him in luminescent tones, and against the gradually darkening background of the sky, he looked beyond radiant. His eyes were warm and golden, like honey. Neil’s entire chest felt split wide open, and he was sure that if anyone looked at him they would see his beating heart, spilling over with affection for the man next to him. 

They left after they disembarked the ride, and the ride home was mostly silent, Neil dozing off in the passenger seat, curled up and staring at Andrew’s profile. 

Andrew took the shower first when they finally reached home, after asking Neil to get some food out of the fridge. It ended up being take-out from Neil’s favorite Italian restaurant, which made Neil beyond ecstatic. 

After Neil was done with his shower, he came out to see the dining room lit with candlelight. Neil’s face broke open on a stupid smile. His face hurt with how much he had been smiling that day, and that didn’t look like it was going to change. 

They ate in mostly silence, legs intertwined under the table. Sir and King were having a great time with the fox toy Neil had won in the corner. Neil was so full of contentment he felt like he could burst or melt. The food was so amazing, and the day had been so exciting, Neil felt like he couldn't move at the end of the meal. He felt warm and sleepy and soft and so deeply in love he almost couldn’t breathe. 

They finished their meal, and put the dishes in the sink, before Neil crowded Andrew up against the kitchen counter. He put his hands next to Andrew’s face in a silent question, until Andrew nodded. Neil tried to shove every ounce of happiness into the kiss, every single speck of gratitude. Andrew seemed to appreciate it. It took a lot of strength to pull away from him 

‘Thank you, Andrew. Today was incredible. It was perfect, you were perfect,” Neil said. Andrew bit his lip, a rare show of nerves, before taking a deep breath. 

“I have a question,” Andrew said, and Neil furrowed his brows in response. “Don’t feel obligated to say yes, or anything like that, but,” he pulled a small velvet box from his pocket, “if you want to.” He didn’t finish the sentence, just opened the box to reveal a ring. 

Neil felt his mouth drop open. He hadn’t even considered marriage as a possibility, but here Andrew was, standing in front of him, not a trace of expectation on his face. Suddenly, Neil felt his breath catch in his chest. Every single one of his flight instincts kicked into overdrive, and he felt jittery. He wanted to run, and the feeling scared him to his core. He thought he was done running, but there it was, buried under his skin like a cancer. He would end up destroying this, the possibility was always lurking under the surface. 

Neil didn’t realize how deeply he had shut down until he heard Andrew’s voice saying his name in increasingly strained tones. Andrew had his face cradled in his hands, and it was only then that Neil heard himself hyperventilating. 

“It’s okay, Neil, you’re safe, I won’t ask again, okay, just breathe for me, come on, just breathe,” Andrew was saying, a stream of soothing words, breaking through Neil’s hysteria. 

Neil’s breathing evened, and he rasped out an “I’m sorry,” before Andrew told him to shut up, and dragged him into the bedroom. 

Andrew acted like he hadn’t asked anything, like absolutely nothing had changed, like he didn’t want to marry Neil. He was probably terrified of triggering another panic attack, and Neil was pathetically grateful. He had no idea what to say, how to respond, but either way Andrew didn’t seem to want an answer anymore. Neil felt relieved and disappointed, and didn't know how to justify the feelings to each other. 

Before going to sleep, Neil took a second to wonder exactly how he had managed to ruin a perfect day. 

* 

Andrew didn’t bring up the proposal at all after the first botched attempt. He was completely normal, nothing in his behavior changing at all. He was as taciturn as always, and he didn’t shy away from contact any more than he usually did. Neil, on the other hand felt jumpy and ridiculous. He wanted to confront Andrew about the proposal, to ask why he wanted to marry Neil, wanted to apologize for fucking everything up so tremendously, but his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. 

After three days of the same shit, Neil resorted to drastic measures. 

Kevin picked up on the first ring, with a grumpy, “What the hell do you want?” Neil assumed he had interrupted something to do with Exy, Jeremy Knox, Thea, or some combination of the above, but couldn’t find it in him to care. He knew that maybe calling Kevin about romance woes was maybe not the best idea, but he had managed to find a stable relationship, he was Neil’s best friend, and most importantly he knew Andrew. He would understand the magnitude of the situation at hand. 

“Andrew proposed,” Neil said in a rush. There was a second of silence on the other end. 

“And?” Kevin prompted. Clearly, he didn’t understand the magnitude of the situation at hand. Fucking Kevin. 

‘And?! He proposed marriage, Kevin. He wants to marry me,” Neil said, trying to emphasize exactly how concerned Kevin should be through repetition.

“To be honest with you, I assumed that you and Andrew were already married, but you didn’t want any of us at the wedding. I think Matt and Renee were the only ones who bet against that, so they’re going to be pleased,” Kevin mused. Neil felt like all the breath had been punched out of his lungs. 

“Are you serious?” He asked. 

“I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you’re already married, Neil. You live together, you planned your lives around each other, you fought to be put on the same team, Aaron even calls you his in-law. The only thing that you don’t have is the ring, or the tax benefits,” Neil was reeling. Kevin was right. Neil wanted to spend the rest of his life with Andrew, he had planned on it. He would never want anyone else, and Andrew felt the same way. Neil did Andrew’s taxes for fucks sake. 

“Oh my god, Andrew and I are already married. I’m such an idiot,” Neil said. 

“Yes, you absolutely are. Now, can I go back to my game, or do you need me to spell out other completely obvious things to you? Have you heard of the sky? It’s pretty blue,” Kevin drawled out petulantly. Neil hung up on him. 

He had damage control to do. 

* 

Two weeks after Andrew’s proposal, Neil brought the subject up again. Neil was sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for Andrew to finish brushing his teeth and come out of the bathroom. 

“Hey, can we talk?” Andrew raised his eyebrow at Neil’s request, but obliged, sitting next to him on the bed. They both turned to face each other, swinging their legs onto the bed in synchrony. 

“What do you want to talk about?” Andrew asked, clearly confused. Well, only clearly to Neil. His face would look completely blank to anyone else, but Neil could read the wrinkles in his brow, the tension at his jaw. Andrew was a language Neil was fluent in. 

“The question you asked me. Three weeks ago,” Neil confessed. 

“Neil, we don’t have to-” Andrew began. 

“I know, but I want to. Just let me say this?” Neil cut in. Andrew nodded reluctantly. Neil inhaled deeply. 

“When you told me you had a question, I had no idea what to expect. I really wasn’t expecting you to propose to me. Marriage has always been a weird subject for me; my parents hated each other, and my father had my mother killed, so I never really wanted it, as a kid. After that, I learned that I don’t swing. I never thought I was going to be attracted to anyone, much less marry them. 

I panicked when you asked me to marry you because I was scared. I was scared of tying myself down so completely, scared of fucking this up somehow, because, Andrew, what we have is the most important thing in the world to me. The life we have together is everything, you are everything. If I ever lost this, if I ever messed this up, I wouldn’t just be losing my relationship, I would be losing my entire life. I didn’t realize that the reasons I was scared proved how much I shouldn’t have been.” 

“I ended up calling Kevin and asking his advice, which is usually a mistake,” Andrew actually cracked a smile at that, “but this time he opened my eyes. You’re my home, Andrew.” Neil pulled a small box from the pocket of his pajama pants and opened it, placing it on the bedspread so Andrew could see the ring in it. 

“So, if you’re still on board, Andrew Joseph Minyard, will you marry me?” Neil asked. Andrew looked at the box with something like wonder in his eyes, before he looked up at Neil’s face. Neil’s chest tightened until he realized he was holding his breath. Andrew’s face was suddenly inscrutable and Neil was terrified. 

“Josten, have you ever had an original idea in your life?” Andrew asked, face softening and lips turning upwards, and Neil breathed out a laugh in relief. 

“Is that a yes?” Neil asked stupidly. 

“Of course it’s a yes, moron, I asked first,” Andrew responded, before leaning in for a kiss. Neil kissed back eagerly, pushing his hands into Andrew’s hair. They broke apart long enough to put their rings on, before falling back into each other. 

Later, when they were thoroughly exhausted, Andrew reached out and grabbed Neil’s hand, the ring on his hand pleasantly cool on Neil’s heated skin. He inhaled, and Neil waited patiently for the words. 

“I can’t believe you called Kevin,” Andrew ended up saying, and Neil barked out a laugh. 

“It was a moment of weakness,” Neil defended himself. 

“He is going to be insufferable about this,” Andrew replied, with no small amount of disgust. 

“If you think Kevin will be bad, imagine Nicky,” Neil intoned, and giggled helplessly at Andrew’s groan. 

“I can’t believe I willingly signed up for this,” Andrew griped, and Neil held on tight to his hand, and thanked every deity he could think of that Andrew had. 

“Don’t worry, we have forever to figure it out,” Neil said, because they did. He couldn’t wait.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it, there's an awesome kudos button under this ;)
> 
> If you liked it a lot, a comment would be even better :D
> 
> If you think parts were ooc, you want to talk about Andreil, or you want to have a conversation with me for any reason, message me @ tallsinspace.tumblr.com 
> 
> Thanks for reading!!!!! I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
